OneWeb resiliency - when and where it's needed most

Whether it is disruption through hostile action or natural disaster, OneWeb can help by providing additional connectivity to keep communications going when all else fails. We sat down with Chris Moore CBE, VP of Defence and Security for OneWeb and a former 2* Royal Air Force officer, to find out more about the company’s mission critical offerings to militaries and governments worldwide.

Crispin Littlehales, Executive Editor, Satellite Evolution Group

Question: The changing face of war requires that militaries embrace new strategies for communication. How can OneWeb help today’s warfighters stay connected on the battlefield?

Chris Moore: Communication systems have always shaped the way militaries fight and advancements in technology have challenged commanders to think differently about how they can gain operational advantage. From smoke signals, flags on ships, telegraph lines in the trenches, to radio and now satellite, these technological innovations have had a profound impact on the ability to synchronize and project the diverse components of military organizations, ultimately enhancing a country’s ability to operate in more effective and efficient ways.

Although satellite-enabled communications have been widely available for some time, there exists the challenge of getting large amounts of bandwidth at very low latency to the tactical edge, be it on the front line in a trench, in a cockpit, on a ship, or even an autonomous platform. Over my military career, the model has been largely built around large amounts of bandwidth into headquarters in the rear, and as information flows forward towards the front line it’s compressed and constrained through a series of ever more tactical systems. By the time you get to the tactical edge there tends to be a paucity of bandwidth and high latency induced by the complexity of poorly integrated system of systems architectures.

Where OneWeb and low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites help is that they are enabling some of those blockers to be overridden. You can now get high bandwidth with low latency directly to the tactical edge. Not only does that offer militaries the ability to operate more effectively with extant organizational structures, in turn it also offers the opportunity for commanders to organize and fight their force elements differently, for example in a de-centralized way. The best recent example of this is the Ukrainians using LEO constellations in a highly mobile and agile fashion against a superior—at least in terms of mass—opposition.

Chris Moore CBE, VP of Defence and Security for OneWeb

Question: What about the welfare of soldiers, aviators, and sailors—including their ability to stay connected to their families—how does OneWeb fit in?

Chris Moore: I was in the military for 31 years. In those early years, I was lucky if I could write a letter back home and get one in return. In the three decades since, we’ve gone from handwritten notes to full streaming connectivity so there’s been a massive change in welfare for our deployed forces. This is not only critical for morale, but we now have a generation that demands WiFi and connectivity as a theater entry standard. Using LEO will enable real time video calls, social media, and gaming which is very important if you want to sustain and retain troops for the long haul and keep them and their families happy.

Question: Are there other benefits that OneWeb’s LEO constellation can deliver to military users?

Chris Moore: One major advantage is that we offer true global coverage. For better or for worse, the changing climate is making places such as the High North and Antarctica more accessible. Sea lanes are opening up and there are lots of mineral resources in those areas, which is creating competition alongside economic growth and, of course, helping to generate data on climate change. Currently, OneWeb is the only LEO that is designed to operate globally and offer coverage at the polar regions.

Another big advantage is low latency. It is not only important for how the military operates today, but it will be even more important in the future when we have widespread use of autonomous and semi-autonomous platforms where you need to perform real-time connectivity, alongside command and control at global reach. This is crucial to ensure these systems have the right oversight to make sure they’re operating in both a legal and safe manner. Low latency also unlocks the delivery of cloud services across the final mile, bringing super compute power and AI to the tactical edge...that will be a gamechanger.

OneWeb tends to use distribution partners who are experts in their fields. Those experts can combine our strengths with their specialisms to meet the needs of end users. In the case of Defense & Security, we are dealing with a few distribution partners who have a strong and longstanding pedigree of understanding what end-user requirements are and tailoring their services accordingly.

Our terminals are also a plus for military users. As the technology progresses, they are coming down in size, weight, and power, whilst increasing in utility. Our first batch of flat panel terminals are being delivered even as we speak. Some of them are the size of a small table and some are the size of a pizza box. In the very near future, we’ll be taking delivery of our person-portable terminals that will provide that link to the tactical edge in the land environment as well as on aircraft and ships. These small terminals are highly capable and represent a step change over what militaries have previously had.

A lot of OneWeb’s lineage has emerged from the mobile phone industry. As a result, we’ve learned a lot about how people relate to their mobile phones. Our packages are tailorable, flexible, and adaptable so that you can actively and dynamically configure that service through an app on your phone or laptop.

The final big benefit is mobility. Of course, this has always been possible with traditional SATCOM, but as we know from GEO and MEO, the beam sizes tend to be fixed within a specified geography. When assets such as ships or planes go beyond the geographic boundaries, you then must swap satellites or beams to make sure that the planning associated with that is both commercially and operationally in place. One of my last jobs in the military involved operational planning for a carrier strike group when it deployed from Portsmouth to the other side of the world—the South China Sea. The satellite planning exercise for that took the better part of a year because of the number of commercial, military and government agreements that needed to be struck with different providers and agencies to make sure the journey was supported and coordinated, especially across the electromagnetic spectrum.

There are no geographical boundaries with our constellation because it covers everywhere. As a result, you don’t have that same degree of complexity in the planning and provision of satellite services as with traditional approaches.

Question: What about a multi-orbit architecture; how is that superior?

Chris Moore: Each orbit has its strengths and weaknesses. Looking ahead, we’ll have high altitude platforms, terrestrial connectivity, network of networks, and so forth. The architectures and the technology are converging because interoperability is not just a military need, it’s a societal need. So, we need an architecture that’s not just multi-orbit, or as I prefer multi-layered, but also multi-domain. That’s why OneWeb is merging with Eutelsat so that we can look towards a coherent LEO/GEO architecture in the first instance. As OneWeb evolves our horizontally integrated model, we can see scenarios where we could do LEO to MEO interoperability with other industrial partners and in time LEO to ground.

Question: How does OneWeb stack up against other MilSatCom offerings?

Chris Moore: The obvious comparison is StarLink, but we are not a one-for-one comparison because we are clearly differentiated from them. I would say that OneWeb’s solution is optimized for community WiFi or 5G backhaul—things that require Quality of Service, Service Level Agreements (SLAs), and guaranteed bandwidth. We also have the advantages mentioned previously over other MEO and GEO suppliers.

It’s not just about the technology of course. Licensing and spectrum come into the equation as well. OneWeb has advantages in the electromagnetic spectrum. For example, we have the priority LEO filing at Ku-band, which means that other LEO operators must coordinate with us. We also have very high priority in Ka-band, and we have other frequency bands that we have access to. Then there is the fact that each country where you offer services requires that you go through a licensing process. Again, OneWeb is very advanced in reaching agreements with certain countries to allow services to be consumed. It’s a multi-dimensional challenge involving political, commercial, and technological elements as well as timing.

And, of course, it’s not just about comparison to MilSatCom. It’s about augmenting terrestrial and subterranean networks. With less than 20 percent of the globe covered by terrestrial cellular networks it’s critical that connectivity becomes available to enable those living in under-served areas to communicate and function effectively. We are putting LEO services into disconnected or poorly connected areas and by doing so, will tap into an estimated 4 billion people who haven’t yet got decent internet services.

Question: Historically, militaries have been slow to adopt newer methods of communication, often hanging on to their legacy systems. Does OneWeb have a way of addressing this?

Chris Moore: You must work with the militaries of all nations to understand their procurement process, figure out what they need, and convince them that your solution is right for them. In my experience, when it comes to revolutionary technology, it’s about getting that into the hands of the users as quickly as possible so that they can experience the benefits for themselves and see how that new technology changes the game.

The war in Ukraine has shown the utility of LEO, as has the recent earthquake in Turkey and Syria. That’s where we can quickly deploy these new technologies and demonstrate the benefits compared to conventional means. OneWeb, alongside our distribution partners, hopes to increase adoption by being at the forefront of what the world throws at us.

Question: What do you see are the pitfalls if a military or government doesn’t embrace and adapt to new technologies?

Chris Moore: Quite simply, if militaries don’t adapt to new technologies, they’ll lose their competitive advantage. It’s interesting to note that the US has been at the forefront of shifting into multi-orbit and a big uptake of LEO. But it’s not just the big powers that are following suit. Some of the up-and-coming powers want to leap a generation of learning by adopting new technologies. Indeed, there are lots of smaller militaries that are seizing the opportunity to gain competitive advantage, having seen what has happened in Ukraine.

You might be surprised by the list of countries who have been slow on the uptake. But there is one thing that will spur them on and that’s competition. When they see not only their peers, but also lower tier nations taking up the service, it’s likely they’ll catch up.

There is, however, a bit of a gold rush going on since there is only a finite amount of capacity as we grow the network. If a country’s military is late to the party, it will likely miss out and be less competitive in a rapidly evolving world.

Question: How can OneWeb help if an existing communications infrastructure such as an undersea internet cable, is sabotaged?

Chris Moore: Some state actors have allegedly disrupted undersea cables, which is a critical vulnerability to national and international infrastructure.  It is how 21st century modern digitized society runs in a globalized world. The cables provide enormous capacity and solely relying on that connectivity is an incredibly dangerous position in which to be.

If an undersea cable is compromised, OneWeb doesn’t have the ability to take on all of what undersea cables have to offer, but we can provide resilience for the highest priority traffic, be that of governments, financial systems, or high-priority industrials. That resilience can be available in an instant should these links go down and it will keep the critical national infrastructures, the political dialogue, and the intergovernmental relationships going on, so there won’t be a breakdown of communication at scale.

Having a resilient path that will mitigate some risk if sabotage or an accident interrupts mission critical communications is vital. OneWeb is positioned to offer resilience to terrestrial and subterranean systems that impact the supply chain, energy, and all the other things that are critical for our militaries and our society to continue to function.

This is not just terrestrial in terms of the hard wires and fibre, it’s about mobility and our logistics chain around the world, 24/7. We offer the opportunity to ensure tracking in real-time, regardless of geography. This can allow for dynamic rerouting and give decision makers options on how to do things differently because they know where things are.

The old military comms mantra of primary, alternate, contingency, emergency (PACE) absolutely applies to industry and defense alike so it’s critical that OneWeb offer an alternative, and sometimes the primary solution to enable militaries and governments to keep their competitive advantage.

In June, we saw connectivity cut in several rural towns of Alaska when a 1,200-mile undersea fibre cable was damaged due to an ice scouring event. Using our vital network of satellites, we were able to work with our local partners to restore connectivity to affected communities whilst month-long repairs to the sub-sea system were made.

Question: What makes High North NATO Integrated Air Missile Defence a good use case for a low latency LEO constellation?

Chris Moore: Although fiber and line of sight radio links are the primary choice for an integrated air missile defense system, OneWeb offers resilience. We offer connectivity to support NATO’s efforts, and, as LEO constellations evolve, there is the potential to add ancillary payloads to our constellation to better see what’s happening in real time. That would be useful for measuring the environment, tracking wildfires, and in identifying and helping governments understand nefarious activities. But all of that is in the future.

What is happening now is that information technology and digital capabilities are becoming part of the front line and therefore a direct target. We see this with Ukraine. There is a blurring of the traditional transactional relationship between industry and defense. This is becoming a lot more integrated and interdependent than we’ve previously seen because the cutting-edge technology does not exist in the military as it exists outside. I think that may well force governments and societies to rethink what competition and conflict means across the whole of society and the industrial base.